


Here Be Dragon-Flies

by julien (julie)



Series: Riviera-Green Dragon-Fly Wings [1]
Category: due South
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elf, Alternate Universe - Faerie, Alternate Universe - Wings, Episode: s02e01 North, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1997-01-07
Updated: 1997-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:26:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21867469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julie/pseuds/julien
Summary: Fraser is hurt and blinded after a plane crash, lost and alone in the Canadian wilderness. Help comes from a very unexpected quarter indeed.
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio
Series: Riviera-Green Dragon-Fly Wings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575418
Kudos: 2





	Here Be Dragon-Flies

**Author's Note:**

> **Notes:** This story is yet another version of episode 201 NORTH, written under the influence of a David Marciano-induced warm glow (all of which is, for me, business as usual). 
> 
> I called Raimondo (an alternate Ray Vecchio) an elf in this, though some readers rightfully protested that he is more properly a fairy. At the time, ‘fairy’ was a particularly aggravating epithet for a gay man, and I could not bring myself to use the word even in this decidedly positive sense. I feel less aggrieved, all these years later, but I have let the matter stand. 
> 
> As I used to protest, I _never_ wrote elf (or fairy) stories – but Raimondo, once conceived, was too beautiful and too persistent to ignore. I hope you enjoy the results. 
> 
> **First published:** 7 January 1997 in my zine Pure Maple Syrup 4 
> 
> **Kudos:** Winner of Best Story in the Due South category of the STIFfie Awards 1997

# Here Be Dragon-Flies 

♦

His kind rarely ventured out into the quick-world, the human-world, and here was a good example of why. Raimondo turned his nose up at the nasty acrid smell of human wreckage, this unnatural stuff in danger of burning, having already ruined part of the woodland in its maddened dash to land in this place. Foul it was, and even in quick-time the effects would not heal for a long-while.

Still, curiosity had always been Raimondo’s foible, second only after loyalty – and both often misguided in the opinion of the elders. He’d spied two trails of foot-marks leading off through the trees. One trail was fairly sure and direct, but the other was strangely zigzag. Yes, a human had stumbled this way, in the company of (fascinatingly enough) a wolf. Two humans separately leaving behind their little offering of devastation.

In Raimondo’s rather limited experience, and from what he’d heard, humans were generally ugly and clumsy things, inevitably blind to all but their own narrow concerns. But he’d only ever seen two humans, and while those specimens bore out the general picture painted by the elders, that didn’t prevent Raimondo’s curiosity being piqued on this otherwise particularly lazy day. One of these humans was, after all, being followed by a wolf, and Raimondo wanted to know why. If it was simply that the wolf was hungry, the animal would have dealt with the human by now.

Raimondo shrugged his shoulders, his bare skin cooling in the quick-air. Then he lifted above the highest branches of the trees with a couple of strong wing-beats, and darted off down the clumsier of the human trails.

♦

Benton Fraser walked into yet another tree, a Douglas fir this time. He’d been blinded, temporarily he hoped, probably due to the head injury he’d sustained when the pilot had bailed out and his plane crashed. Appropriately for this disability he’d found a branch he could use as a cane, and he swung it before him, side to side, in what he thought was a good imitation of sight-impaired people. He must be getting something wrong, though, for he had walked smack-bang into an alarming number of trees.

Diefenbaker had every now and then steered him in different directions, the wolf presumably saving the human from the worst blunders (though Fraser hated to think what they’d be, compared to the falls he had made). Then Dief would trot off again, glad to be back in the wilderness after all the civilizations of Chicago. If Fraser died out here, at least Dief would be back where he belonged.

The pair were currently heading due north, making towards a river Fraser had seen from the plane as he fought with the controls. Unable to prevent or even slow their descent, Fraser had assumed he’d come out of that little adventure in a far worse state than he actually did. A minor head injury, that was all he’d suffered, which brought with it a temporary blindness and a slight sense of disorientation.

Fraser tripped over something, went down hard on hands and knees. Lost his makeshift cane, and spent a few frustrating minutes searching for it. Let out a satisfied, ‘Hah!’ when he did so, adjusted the burden of supplies on his back, and stood up. ‘No thanks to you,’ he muttered to Dief.

Waiting a moment until the worst of the dizziness passed, Fraser felt for the sun against his face. Making an informed guess at the time, he located north and headed off again, taking particular care to lift his feet high enough to avoid further obstacles.

Frankly it required a fair amount of optimism to believe he had a chance of surviving this one, but that shouldn’t prevent a person from making every effort. He’d survived the plane crash with all his limbs intact, after all. The thought of sitting down and giving up hope, the thought of simply waiting on others to decide he was missing and then try to locate him – these ideas were abhorrent to him. Fraser shuddered. He had his duty to return to, as soon as he could and in one useable piece if possible.

‘Come on, Diefenbaker, old friend,’ he said. ‘I would think there’s only a few kilometers to go.’ And Benton Fraser stumbled on.

♦

This one was literally blind, Raimondo noted, though the man seemed more attuned with his other senses than human beings were reputed to be. This human actually heard the breeze faintly rustling through foliage ahead of him, and avoided walking into it – though he did walk right into a tree a little-ways further on, proceeding to drop to the ground in a stunned state. Raimondo laughed at the poor stupid thing.

‘Tamarack,’ the man announced, apparently addressing the wolf who’d padded over to sniff at the human. ‘Odd to find one so far south. They are very attractive trees, as I’m sure you are currently appreciating.’ He was rummaging around within a bag, and soon produced a flask of clear water. Rummaged around some more and found a pan into which he carefully poured half the liquid. ‘Here you are,’ he said to the wolf. ‘We have to be careful, Dief, because there isn’t much left, and I don’t know when we’ll reach the river. But I’m sure we’ll get there in plenty of time.’ The man lifted the flask to his mouth, and drank the rest of the water, while the wolf lapped at his share.

Later, when the man tried to stand, he’d barely gotten upright again when he tripped and collapsed in a heap. It was the silliest thing Raimondo had ever seen. His laughter flew richly, carelessly about him, and the wolf pricked up his ears. Smart creatures, wolves.

But, to Raimondo’s surprise, the human was also twisting his head around searching for a particular sound. Could it be possible he’d caught a hint of laughter? The man shouldn’t have been able to hear Raimondo, for he wasn’t really part of this dull-world. Perhaps the human was simply trying to understand what the wolf was listening to.

Eventually the human shrugged, clambered slowly to his feet and walked on, feeling for a path with a tree branch. The wolf followed him, loyal as the best of friends, though continually distracted by the wood’s delights.

Raimondo flitted down to their level as the trees opened up a little more, according the human a clearer path and Raimondo room for his full wingspan. Examining the man’s oblivious face, Raimondo decided he was really quite appealing for a human being. Sure, the fellow was large-built and clumsy, but he had the finest skin, pale as driven snow, and a rather pleasing face. Yes, fairly delicate features for a man, almost pretty if you had the taste for that kind of thing.

But what Raimondo kept returning to were those incredibly blue eyes. They were beautiful. Wide and sightless, unaware of anyone gazing into them. As blue as if the creators had torn out two pieces of sky (and not this vapid, quick-world sky) and blessed the human’s heavy face with scraps of opalescent richness.

Endearing the way the fellow kept going, kept hopefully walking on, despite the fact he was always falling down and blundering into trees. Really quite endearing. Except that there was a cliff directly ahead of the man, and if the wolf didn’t stop him then the human would walk right off it and plummet a long-ways.

‘The river should be just over this rise,’ the man announced, apparently not noticing how his voice echoed down the cliff wall. ‘We’ll reach it soon, Diefenbaker, and then it will be a trouble-free cruise downstream until we find civilization.’

But the wolf wasn’t there. Raimondo flitted higher – and saw the wolf some-ways back, thoroughly distracted by an interesting smell. Even if Raimondo managed to catch his attention, the wolf would arrive too late to save his friend. Apparently it was up to Raimondo himself…

He hovered at the cliff edge, directly in the human’s path. The man was only three long strides away. Raimondo cleared his throat. ‘Ahem!’

Hilarious to see the man’s complete startlement. He almost fell over, he was so surprised to discover he was not alone. The poor fellow tentatively asked, ‘Diefenbaker?’

Raimondo said, ‘I don’t think you want to be walking this way.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because you don’t have wings, and you’ll hurt yourself.’

A long moment passed by. Raimondo was sorry to see that those beautiful blue eyes had clouded over – a little confused and a lot guarded. Eventually the fellow asked, ‘Who are you?’ And he stretched out a cautious hand, seeking to touch the stranger before him.

Raimondo backed out of reach, hovering a little-ways beyond the cliff edge. ‘I can’t tell you that.’

The man frowned, and muttered to himself, ‘Not the pilot, completely different voice.’ To Raimondo, he asked, ‘Are you a hunter? Do you live around here? I’m having trouble placing your accent.’

‘I’m really not allowed to tell you,’ Raimondo explained. ‘I just wanted for you not to walk over this cliff. I shouldn’t have even done that, we’re not meant to run interference, there are rules against it.’

Fraser listened very carefully to all this, wondering if the conversation was making any sense at all to the other participant in it. This cursed head injury was causing him some pain, and a great deal too much disorientation – and Fraser was feeling quite unhappy about that despite his determination to make the best of a less than ideal situation.

Diefenbaker ran up, and pushed his nose into Fraser’s hand in greeting, then barked once in a friendly manner. Fraser relaxed a little, knowing that Dief would have sounded a warning if necessary. Still, Fraser didn’t like not knowing what was going on, and the conversation so far had been rather unproductive. ‘What’s your name?’ he asked.

‘I don’t even know you, and you want me to speak my name?’

Apparently this was the most outrageous thing Fraser could have suggested. Nevertheless Fraser continued, ‘Yes, I would like you to. My name is Benton Fraser. Constable Benton Fraser of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.’

‘Whoa there! There’s a powerful magic bound up in names, you can’t just be giving yours away to every creature you meet.’

‘How else are we to begin to know each other?’

Raimondo puzzled over the man. Perhaps this Benton Fraser wasn’t human after all – perhaps he was Persistence Incarnate. ‘Look,’ Raimondo offered, ‘I had a mind to try to stop you walking off this cliff, that’s all.’

‘What cliff?’

And ( _Unbelievable_ , thought Raimondo) the human stubbornly took a step forward. Even as Raimondo reached a hand to grasp the man’s shoulder, the wolf tackled him round the legs, and Benton Fraser went sprawling off safely to one side. The fellow did however drop something – he and Raimondo each cocked their heads to listen to the thing clattering down from rock to rock.

Once the silence returned, Raimondo said, ‘ _That_ cliff. I knew humans were meant to be stupid, but this is ridiculous. Do you have to learn everything the hard way?’

‘Well,’ the man said as he clambered slowly to his feet, one hand grasping at the wolf for balance, ‘there’s nothing like the lessons available through direct experience.’ But he did sound a little humbled.

‘What do you have a mind to do – find the river?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll lead you there, all right? Otherwise you’ll hurt yourself and that would be a pity.’

‘Tell me who you are.’

‘Can’t do that,’ Raimondo declared.

Benton Fraser’s beautiful blue eyes pleaded with him, apparently wanting something a little more substantial to hang onto. There was curiosity in there, too. Curiosity had always got Raimondo into trouble.

‘Won’t do that,’ Raimondo repeated firmly.

The human sighed, and looked sightlessly about him. ‘Is my compass gone?’ he asked, forlorn. It must be an important talisman of some kind.

‘That silvery thing you were carrying?’ Raimondo considered the situation. ‘You let the wolf lead you that way a little-ways, and I’ll go find it for you. I’ll be back before you know it.’

‘How? Is there a path down the cliff?’

‘Er, no. I’m just a quick climber.’

And Raimondo bent to whisper in the wolf’s ear, who proceeded to shepherd his human charge along the cliff’s edge. Again the human had cocked his head to listen, as if he could sense things Raimondo had no intention of letting him hear. Raimondo shrugged, and flitted off down the cliff to search for the human’s talisman. It lay there amongst the rocks, glittering in what little light there was in this quick-world. Raimondo swept it up in one hand, and beat his two pairs of wings in long powerful strokes to climb back up through the cool air.

♦

Fraser stumbled along, making better time now that he had a companion. The fellow was holding Fraser’s left hand, which Fraser had to admit was rather nice. Nice in a reassuring and friendly way, that cool firm grip. Nice in a more pleasurable way, those shifting playful fingers and that narrow palm. With some embarrassment, Fraser recalled that the Japanese considered the palm to be an erogenous zone. _Never mind that_ , he told himself. His new companion never once let his hand go, and Fraser felt absurdly grateful for the continuing physical and (to be honest) emotional support.

The terrain must have been extremely uneven, as sometimes that hand was level with his own, but often it was higher, around Fraser’s shoulder height, and at other times it was lower. Fraser trusted the fellow, though, because despite all this changeable ground, the path Fraser trod was always chosen well.

Still rather dazed and confused, Fraser tried talking to his companion in an effort to draw the fellow out, but it seemed they shared few experiences. For all Fraser could make out, this fellow had spent his entire life in these woods – if that was even possible in this day and age. Fraser almost envied him his ignorance.

‘Well, I am by training and inclination a law enforcement officer,’ Fraser found himself explaining as he stumbled on, gripping that strong narrow hand. ‘But in Chicago my posting is as a deputy liaison officer. The work is not necessarily what I would choose to be doing right now, but I took that risk when I asked to be transferred there.’

Fraser left a silence into which he expected some kind of reaction to fall. And found that his companion was humming, holding one lovely rich note forever. ‘Mmmmm,’ the fellow said at last. ‘You really have quite a pleasant voice. Not at all what I expected. Keep talking!’

‘Er, yes. Well, I needed to transfer to Chicago in order to bring my father’s murderer to justice. And unfortunately I have had to remain there. It seems there are no other postings available at this time. Especially after –’

Silence, except for that mellifluous hum. ‘Yes?’ his companion prompted after a time. ‘Give me more. I like harmonizing with you.’

Fraser frowned. Perhaps the fellow shared such little common ground with Fraser that he was oblivious to the content of Fraser’s words. Perhaps right now Fraser could say anything, and there would be no reaction other than general good-hearted acceptance. ‘A woman,’ Fraser said, stumbling clumsily on, ‘the only woman I ever loved. She came to Chicago. Attempted revenge for a mistake I once made, a wrong I did her. Gave me a second chance and then took it away. She tried to make it appear that my conduct was completely improper. It’s a wonder I wasn’t charged over the matter. It all ended badly. I was… hurt.’

‘You’re hurt?’

Such genuine concern in the voice. Fraser hadn’t heard such a thing in what felt like years. Embarrassingly enough, he felt tears prick hot at his eyes. ‘Well, I’m healing,’ he said. ‘Except now for the results of this plane crash. Lately I’m tempted to believe someone or something is conspiring against me.’

‘Who?’ Hushed, fearful, curious tones.

Fraser let out a laugh, and squeezed that friendly hand. ‘Don’t pay me any mind, I’m meandering verbally as well as physically, and I thank you kindly for your patience and guidance.’

‘Thank you kindly,’ the fellow echoed. ‘Keep talking, Benton Fraser.’

‘Well, I am not best suited to Chicago, I have to admit, but that is where duty and honor have taken me, and I try to make the most of it.’ Fraser asked, ‘Can’t I know your name?’

‘No, you can’t.’ Impatience, a touch of petulance.

‘Then may we rest a while, my friend? I am not feeling quite myself lately, and I am tiring fast.’

‘Of course we may. Some days I do little else.’

Fraser laughed at this absurd notion. ‘You do little else than rest? That’s ridiculous.’

‘I don’t find it so.’

‘Well, what work do you do? What are your duties and responsibilities? Even if you live out here in the woods, survival itself would be a demanding taskmaster.’

‘Here, sit down here, human.’

Fraser frowned again, trying to work out who his companion could be. Someone who was used to living alone, he surmised – but there were too few pieces yet in this puzzle, and none of them quite fit with any of the others.

Giving up for the moment, and thanking providence for airlines that catered for their passengers with Evian, Fraser located a bottle of water in his pack. There were only three bottles left, which meant he and Dief were in trouble if they didn’t reach the river soon. And his companion – Fraser asked, ‘Would you like some water? I am perfectly willing to share.’

‘No, thank you kindly,’ the fellow replied in a sing-song voice. Oddly enough, the words seemed to drift down from the sky above Fraser, but he supposed that was a misperception resulting from his continuing disorientation.

Taking great care not to spill any, Fraser poured half the bottle out for Dief, and drank the rest down. He said to his companion, ‘There’s a felon on the loose. He had hijacked the plane, having killed the pilot, but he abandoned it when he realized I was a police officer. I was wondering if you’d be prepared to help me capture him.’

‘I am helping you,’ the fellow murmured from nearby.

‘You are. And my duty is to bring this man to justice.’

‘Duty again?’

‘Yes,’ Fraser said firmly. ‘Now, I managed to fashion a makeshift bolas this morning, but unfortunately it is my only weapon. Do you know how to use it?’

Raimondo looked at the contraption Benton Fraser held out to him. It was a rather odd combination of rocks and string and knots. ‘Very pretty,’ he commented. ‘You must be very proud.’

‘Can you use it?’

‘For what?’

‘If you swing it over your head, and throw it, it is a useful weapon. The Inuit use it to hunt.’

‘Oh, I don’t think so.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I don’t think I can use it.’

‘ _Try_ ,’ the man suggested with a certain lack of patience.

Raimondo drew closer, ran fingers over the knots and stone. ‘Interesting textures,’ he offered.

The briefest of pauses as the human considered this. ‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘Yes, they are interesting.’

‘But you want me to swing it and throw it at a man, don’t you?’

‘Yes. If you can. If we find him, or if he finds us.’

‘It’s against the rules, you know. Saving your life is one thing, harming another is something else entirely.’

The human sighed. ‘All right. I’m sorry I asked. I didn’t realize you had rules.’

‘You have rules, too?’

‘So many. So very many rules.’

Benton Fraser sounded quite sad. Raimondo leaned in closer, curious to see what was in those muddled blue eyes. What a strange contrary creature this human being was. What a strange contrary beautiful creature.

A hand tentatively shaped itself around Raimondo’s waist. He didn’t even realize what was happening until Benton Fraser’s face registered embarrassment and surprise. ‘Aren’t you _cold?’_ the human asked.

‘Ai!’ Raimondo sprang back out of reach. ‘No, I’m not, and don’t be touching me!’

‘But… Would you like my jacket? I have this sweater as well.’

‘No.’

‘You don’t even have a shirt on,’ the man explained in reasonable tones.

‘You can’t see me,’ Raimondo told him, ‘you can’t know my name, you really shouldn’t touch me.’

‘I just want to know who you are!’ he pleaded.

Raimondo sank into a sullen silence, hovering a fair-ways distant.

‘Where are you? Where have you gone?’ When the man heard no response he became worried. ‘Are you still here, my friend? I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, but you are such a mystery to me, and I wanted to know who you are.’ He subsided, his face losing something bright. ‘Diefenbaker?’ he asked. ‘Dief, old friend.’

The wolf padded up to him, sat beside the man, and suffered fingers running through his fur.

‘Curiosity killed the cat,’ the human commented to himself.

The poor fellow looked so woebegone that Raimondo couldn’t resist him for long. Maybe those beautiful blue-sky eyes would rain, and that would be sad. Raimondo flitted silently over, and said very close to the man’s ear, ‘Finished resting yet?’

Great startlement again, which made Raimondo laugh. ‘Yes,’ Fraser said when he had the breath for it. ‘Thank you kindly.’

‘Thank you kindly,’ Raimondo echoed, still kind of laughing. He took the man’s warm hand in his, and led him off through the trees.

‘I’m sorry,’ the human whispered.

Deciding to forgive him, Raimondo fluttered around before him and darted close to press a tiny kiss to the man’s forehead. Which only startled Benton Fraser some more. Raimondo spent the rest of the sunlight giggling.

♦

Fraser stretched his hands to the warmth of the fire, seeking its comfort. He would have thought he’d be used to being alone after all these decades, but the fact was right now he hated it. Diefenbaker had run off to prowl around, announcing himself with a distant howl every little while. Fraser’s other companion had vanished as swiftly as he’d arrived that afternoon. The night was too still and too quiet. Actually, Fraser wouldn’t mind another scare if only it meant that his new friend had reappeared.

A rustling noise behind him, and Fraser half-turned to listen. ‘Hello?’

‘Hello, son.’

‘Ah. Dad.’ Fraser supposed any company was better than none. ‘How are you?’

‘Better off than you, I’d say. You’re in quite the predicament.’

‘It’s hardly of my making.’ Horrible how his father always put Benton on the defensive.

‘You could have reversed the choke settings on the plane, and restarted the engines.’

Fraser cast an outraged glare in his father’s direction. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that at the time?’

‘I know you hate it when I interfere.’

‘ _Interfere_?’ Fraser took a breath, and then something occurred to him. ‘There’s a man who’s been helping me today. Do you know who he is?’

‘Ah, a strange one. I can’t make him out.’

‘Well, do you have any _clues_? What does he look like?’

Robert Fraser muttered to himself in that infuriating way he had. ‘There are stranger things under heaven and walking the earth, Benton…’

‘What? If you’re quoting _Hamlet_ , it’s _There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy_.’

‘Is it? Well, anyway, son, you have a felon on the loose and a strange thing for a partner who won’t even use a bolas. I’d get moving if I were you.’

Fraser groaned in exasperation. ‘It’s the middle of the night!’ he exclaimed. Silence fell dark around him, blanketing his world. ‘Dad?’

‘Talking to yourself?’ His new friend spoke right into Fraser’s ear again, as he was wont to do.

Fraser jumped in fright, but he didn’t care too much for he was relieved to have some relatively sane company again. ‘Evidently I am,’ he said. ‘Where did you go?’

‘Back home for a moment, back home where it’s warm.’

‘A moment? Where’s your home? Is it nearby? You were gone an hour or more.’

‘Is that a long-time?’ the fellow asked.

‘It felt like a long time,’ Fraser said. ‘Would you take me to your home?’

‘That wouldn’t be allowed.’ It seemed as if the man was shifting around the fire, for his voice came from a different place each time he spoke. ‘I couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be at all wise.’

‘Then we must shift for ourselves out here.’ Fraser sighed, and held his hands out to the fire. He tried to picture the bright cheery flames, but failed dismally.

‘Who were you talking to?’ his friend asked, curious and a little suspicious.

‘Myself.’ Fraser let out a humorless laugh. ‘I hear that’s the first sign of madness. The second is when you reply.’

‘Did you reply to yourself?’

Fraser pondered this. He’d never told anyone the truth of the matter. ‘A ghost replied,’ he said to his new friend. ‘The ghost of my father.’

The fellow laughed as if this was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. Well, perhaps Fraser should have expected just such a reaction. He waited patiently, trying to picture his friend rolling about in the dirt, clutching at his sides, shaking with laughter. Fraser couldn’t paint in the details, but he did have one very clear tactile memory of the fellow’s narrow waist.

‘Ghosts don’t exist!’ his friend declared once he was over his fit of amusement. ‘You _are_ a bit fey, aren’t you? Must be that knock you took on the brain-pan.’

‘Well, no,’ Fraser admitted, shamed but wanting to be honest now he’d begun. ‘I’ve been conversing with the ghost of my father ever since last Christmas.’

‘Oh.’ Apparently the fellow now had some uncomfortable food for thought.

A silence fell again. Fraser shifted a little closer to the fire. ‘It’s dark,’ he observed.

‘That would be because the sun left this world behind.’

‘Ah. Yes.’ Fraser sighed. ‘You know, it seems particularly dark tonight.’

‘And that would be because you’re blinded.’

‘I suppose so.’ He rolled his eyes, impatient with himself. It shouldn’t be so difficult to ask for help. ‘Would you stay with me tonight, my friend? I’m afraid I’m not feeling terribly brave right now. Probably that head injury throwing me off a tad, as you surmised. I’d rather not be alone.’

A pause that felt far too long. And then, ‘It’s so cold here.’

‘I’ll keep the fire going. We could curl up near it, the fire would keep us warm. You could – Did you fetch some clothes when you went to your home?’

‘Never you mind,’ the fellow indignantly replied.

‘Well, we could curl up close together, and share our body warmth.’

Another long pause. Left to wonder about the other’s reaction, Fraser reflected on how much humans communicated visually rather than verbally. Eventually the fellow said, ‘I’ll curl up with you, Benton Fraser. But you have to promise not to touch me. It’s not allowed. We just can’t break any more rules, all right? Do you promise?’

Desperate for the offered comfort, Fraser immediately said, ‘Yes.’ More than ready for sleep, he crawled onto the blanket he’d already spread out and he lay down on one side facing the fire. His new friend waited until Fraser was settled, and then crept up behind him, tentatively snuggled up close. And at last he slipped an arm around Fraser’s waist. ‘Thank you,’ Fraser whispered.

‘Thank you kindly,’ the fellow quietly chimed.

And Fraser sank away into dreams.

♦

Horrid and discomforting to rest that way, with his wings tucked safely away behind him. But curling up with this oddly beautiful and beautifully odd human had its own rewards. Raimondo had already grown rather fond of Benton Fraser, he had to admit. Perhaps affections were soon given away in this quick-world, along with names. Ah, this poor blundering endearing man who talked to ghosts. And those blue home-sky eyes – if Raimondo ever found a lake that color he’d dive right in and sweetly drown.

For now Raimondo just lay there all the cold interminable human-world night, with this man tucked up close to him, asleep. And when Benton Fraser succumbed to troubled dreams, Raimondo quietly sang to him until he eased again. This was breaking a great-many rules, but it felt so pleasant. Raimondo smiled, and pressed a tiny whisper of a kiss to the man’s nape. _Pleasing stealing appealing_ , Raimondo sang to himself.

♦

The next morning they played a game. Benton Fraser sent Raimondo out on a quest to find as many different bugs and grubs as he could. Raimondo flitted off with a pan held clumsy in his hands, and soon came back with it brimming full.

His pride turned to horror when the man began eating the poor crawly little things. ‘Oh, that’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen!’ Raimondo declared.

‘You don’t want any?’ the man asked cheerfully. ‘They’re very nutritious.’

‘You ugly horrid human! Why can’t you eat leaves and fruits and roots and berries like civilized beings?’

‘Vegetarian, are you? Or a vegan? Well, it’s not that I haven’t considered the idea, but I’m afraid I was raised to appreciate a good meal of meat.’ The man kept munching away. ‘Not that I would consider these a good meal under any other circumstances. This is a matter of survival.’

‘It’s terrible. If you’re going to do this, I can’t be with you anymore.’

The sudden panic on the man’s face would have been comic, except that Raimondo knew by now that he actually cared about the fey fool. ‘Don’t leave me,’ the human said, in a hushed tone that didn’t hide the fact he meant it. ‘I won’t eat in front of you if you don’t like me to. I’m sorry, that was thoughtless of me.’

‘All right, all right,’ Raimondo replied in tones more grudging than he felt. ‘I’ll be somewhere-else for a moment, while you eat, then I’ll come back and lead you to the river.’

‘Don’t make it as long a moment as it was last night. Please.’

Raimondo nodded, forgetting the man couldn’t see him, spun around and went home.

♦

The human had now shared the last of his water-flasks with the wolf, so it was becoming quite imperative that Raimondo get the fellow to the river. Raimondo was rather tempted to do more than just lead the man along, tempted to use skills that would betray his true nature to Benton Fraser. But that would not be wise. And there was no real reason to do so yet, for Raimondo was fairly sure they’d make the river before the human or the wolf were in any real danger. As far as Raimondo could judge, the man had a fair-good-time left in him.

Though, growing a little worried despite himself, Raimondo kept peering into that blind and disoriented face, searching for indications of the human’s real condition. Because the ground was particularly rough here, Raimondo was backing away, leading Benton Fraser on with both hands held firmly in his own. The human had already learned how to do this in harmony with Raimondo, and they had few mishaps. Which was kind of a pity, because the human was so endearingly entertaining when he fell.

Benton Fraser was singing unmelodiously but enthusiastically, and Raimondo was humming along with him, liking the man’s voice even though it was gruff. Very pleasant.

But then the man stumbled again, and would have fallen flat on his face if Raimondo hadn’t been there before him. Instead he ended up leaning his weight against Raimondo, his hands clutching Raimondo’s shoulders, and his face a breath away from Raimondo’s chest – and Raimondo’s hands holding him up by grabbing layers of coverings at the man’s waist.

The human remained there, carefully not moving. Exploring with smell and touch and hearing. Breathing in Raimondo’s scent, confused by the light air currents caused by Raimondo’s rapidly beating wings. Perhaps obediently restraining himself from running fingers across Raimondo’s skin, from pressing his face close, from darting his tongue out to taste… Raimondo groaned at the very idea of it, and that blind beautiful face tilted up at him like a flower turning to the sun.

Difficult to break that still moment, difficult not to gather the man up and press kisses to those blue-sky eyes, that vulnerable mouth. _So ridiculous, Raimondo_ , he told himself. _So very silly_.

‘My friend,’ the man whispered, ‘my dear friend, won’t you tell me your name?’

‘No.’ And Raimondo stood the pesky little human up on his own two feet, and let go of him. Horrid clumsy trivial being for spoiling such an indulgent moment. ‘No, I can’t. Walk, human!’

♦

Fraser would have broken into rousing celebratory song when they reached the river, except that he was too busy drinking. The water was pure and cool and the best thing he’d ever swallowed. Diefenbaker was beside him, lapping up the water as eagerly as Fraser. When Fraser had finally had his fill for now – no point in rushing or over-doing it and making himself ill – he patted the wolf with gratitude and appreciation. ‘I knew we’d make it, old friend. Now all we have to do is pilot the raft down the river.’

‘You’re blind,’ his new friend reminded him. ‘How can you trust yourself to the river’s flow?’

‘Perhaps you could come with me?’ Fraser suggested. ‘You could navigate.’

‘Human, you ask a lot of a being.’

‘Well, yes, I suppose I do at times. I’m sorry. You’ve helped me so much already.’ Casting a grateful smile in what he thought was his friend’s direction, Fraser crouched down to drink some more.

Which was when Fraser heard footsteps scattering clumsy down the steep rise he’d just negotiated with the help of his friend. Still maybe a hundred meters away.

‘That isn’t you, dear friend?’ he murmured, just in case the odd fellow had wandered off.

‘No, I’m here.’ Somewhere above and to his left. Fraser’s perceptions must still be awry for the voice sounded like it was about three meters above him.

Dief barked a warning, shifting restless at Fraser’s side. Nudging him to the left. Fraser reached out in that direction, and found a boulder large enough to shelter behind. ‘Thank you, Dief.’ Eighty meters and closing. He called to his other friend, ‘Where’s the bolas? That must be the felon.’

‘Back where you dropped your bag, human.’

A shot rang out, chipping into the rocks to Fraser’s left. ‘Can you fetch it for me?’

‘What’s that loud thing?’ The fellow seemed quite panicked. ‘It’s a dark hard little loud thing he has in his hands.’

‘That’s a gun,’ Fraser patiently explained.

Dief added his own warning comments. Sixty meters. Another shot, hitting closer. Fraser surmised that the man was after the raft.

His friend asked, ‘Is he wanting to hurt you with that?’

‘Yes. Stay down, or he’ll hurt you, too.’

‘Benton Fraser, I don’t like the look in his eyes.’

He had to risk it, even if his hearing was still off-kilter. ‘If you can safely fetch me the bolas, and help me find where he is, I’ll throw it at him. Can you do that, dear friend?’

Silence. Forty meters, and a third shot.

‘Are you there?’ If his new friend had retreated in fear, Fraser was in a great deal of trouble. He reached about and found a handy rock to throw, hefted it to judge its weight.

Diefenbaker ran off, barking angrily, heading for the felon, apparently attempting to divert the man.

‘Brave Dief,’ Fraser muttered, hoping that wouldn’t be the wolf’s eulogy. He concentrated on listening to the man’s footsteps, endeavoring to form a mental picture of their relative locations.

Which was when he realized that he had a visual image of the rock in his hand. Fraser blinked his eyes, registering light for the first time in over twenty-four hours. He looked up to see – to see –

‘Beware!’ his new friend called at the criminal, and Fraser knew it was him by the lovely voice. ‘Beware, felonious human!’

The fellow was swinging the bolas over his head, concentrating hard on this unfamiliar task – singing an ardent song now, and communicating to Diefenbaker, who barked at him in reply – the wolf closing in on the felon from one side, and Fraser’s friend hovering on the other.

Despite the inherent danger of the situation, Fraser could do little for now but gape. For his friend was all naked nut-brown skin, a lean and perfect human form – and he was hovering three meters above the ground, suspended in mid-air by the powerful beat of green-sheened dragon-fly wings. Added to which, his new friend was, quite simply, the most beautiful creature Benton Fraser had ever laid eyes on.

Apparently the felon couldn’t see the creature, though he reacted with confusion to another shout of, ‘Beware!’

Fraser recalled the situation, and hefted the rock at the felon’s head.

Dief was skirmishing around, keeping the man in one place, threatening to bite and rip and tear.

The beautiful winged creature let go the bolas, and the contraption spun through the air. His aim was too high, but Fraser had managed to stun the felon. For a long moment, all four of them watched the bolas arc through its graceful trajectory. Then Fraser belatedly scrambled up and over his boulder, hoping to cover the distance between him and the criminal while the man was distracted.

‘No!’ his new friend cried. ‘Benton Fraser, no!’ And Dief seconded the warning – for the bolas hit the cliff behind the felon, and sent a tidy avalanche of rocks down upon him. And the felon was no longer a problem.

‘Congratulations, son.’

‘Thank you, Dad,’ Fraser said to his father, who had appeared all done up in his dress reds.

‘You got your man.’

‘Yes, we did.’

The winged creature drifted past, heading for the avalanche and looking rather dispirited. ‘Talking to yourself again?’ he asked.

Fraser indicated his Dad. ‘It’s my father’s ghost,’ he explained.

‘Oh, that’s so silly. Ghosts don’t exist.’ And the creature hovered unhappily over the felled felon.

‘Well, neither do elves!’ Robert Fraser declared in a huff.

‘Is that what he is?’ Fraser mused, staring at his new friend. ‘An elf?’ He thought of the dictionary definition – ‘A supernatural being, a mischievous creature.’

‘He’s a strange one.’

‘He’s –’ But how could Fraser tell his father that this beautiful thing with dragon-fly wings was the most incredible creature ever made? ‘He’s been the best of friends to me.’

Fraser walked over to where the creature hovered, and slipped one hand into his friend’s. Fingers and palms caressed in reassurance.

‘I stopped him,’ the creature said mournfully.

‘Yes, you did.’

‘I stopped him _forever_.’

‘Yes, my dear,’ Fraser said carefully. ‘He might have stopped me forever, otherwise.’

‘That’s not a good enough reason! We don’t believe in eye-for-an-eye justice where I come from.’

‘Then you are far more evolved than we human beings.’

A long moment as the creature contemplated this notion, and Fraser’s words, and all they implied. _‘Ai!’_ he cried out, turning to look at Fraser with horror. ‘You can see, Benton Fraser! You can see me!’

‘Yes,’ Fraser confessed, ‘and I’m glad of it.’ He hung onto that hand, even as the creature tugged in an effort to be free. The two perfect pairs of dragon-fly wings beat strong around them. ‘My friend!’ Fraser called through all the kerfuffle. ‘Don’t leave me now, dearheart. Don’t disappear now.’

Eventually the creature settled into sullenness, hovering there next to Fraser, allowing his hand to be held. He was lovely. His eyes were all the colors of the woods – warm browns and greens and rich flecks of gold – and below those eyes were a bold nose and a sensual mouth. The creature had a delicately-shaped skull, enhanced rather than hidden by close-cropped hair. In fact, he had rather more hair scattered down his chest than that on his head. As for the wings, they must be fourteen feet across, tip to tip.

‘You’re very beautiful,’ Fraser offered.

‘Well,’ the creature replied grudgingly, ‘you’re quite pretty yourself. For a human.’

‘Thank you kindly.’ Fraser let a smile curl his lips. ‘But next to you I’m a clumsy oaf.’

The winged thing shrugged. ‘Yeah, but you have beautiful eyes.’ He added, ‘For a human.’

Fraser had known there were more things in heaven and earth than he’d dreamt of, but he hadn’t quite credited anything this strange… After a time, Fraser realized he was doing nothing more than standing there. Staring. Drinking in the sight as greedily as he’d swallowed the river water. The sight of this undeniably male creature wearing nothing but a tiny smile. ‘Ah, what next?’ Fraser asked himself, looking around. ‘I need to bathe, I think, and then get the raft organized. We should be able to cover a fair distance down the river this afternoon.’

‘Who is _we_ , human?’

‘Me and Dief. And you, if you’d care to accompany us. I could still use your guidance.’

‘I’m not going with you.’

‘No, of course not. I don’t know what I was thinking.’ Fraser offered the creature a regretful smile and a last clasp of his hand before letting him go.

‘Whoa there,’ the fellow said, trailing after Fraser as he headed for the water’s edge. ‘I saved your life, human. Twice. Remember three times is always the charm.’

‘I’m grateful for your efforts.’ Fraser cast a glance at him. ‘What do you expect in return?’

‘Oh, your undying devotion,’ the creature said sarcastically. When he caught Fraser’s look of skepticism, the winged thing said morosely, ‘Didn’t do it so you’d feel an obligation. Don’t believe in eye-for-an-eye justice or love-for-a-life heroics.’

‘That’s very ethical of you.’

‘You’re really going away? Are you going a long-ways?’

‘Yes.’ And, as he shrugged off his jacket, Fraser firmly declared, ‘Duty calls.’

‘Oh, _duty_.’ The creature sounded terribly unimpressed. ‘Is it always duty with you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Don’t you realize that _being_ is more important than _doing_?’

‘No. No, I don’t. Another example of your higher evolution.’ Fraser crouched by the water, unbuttoning his shirt.

‘You’re not really going to bathe in the river?’

‘Yes.’

‘But it’s cold! You didn’t need that nasty man trying to stop you forever – the cold will do it for you!’

‘I think you’re exaggerating. The water will be… invigorating, and I’ll enjoy it all the more.’

‘Oh, for my sake, just hold it right there.’ The creature fluttered down close to him. ‘I’m taking you home. You can bathe there, in the warmth. All right?’

Fraser looked up at him, pondering the offer. He was curious, of course, but he was also rather too sensible not to be wary.

‘Just for the afternoon,’ the elfin thing pleaded. ‘Come home with me, Benton Fraser.’

Curiosity won. Fraser nodded once, firmly, though he asked, ‘Aren’t there rules against it?’

‘Yeah.’ A gusty sigh. ‘But what the fuck do the elders know, anyway…’

Fraser let out a surprised laugh at the crudity falling from this beautiful creature’s lips. Then the winged thing was fluttering closer, dipping down to wind his arms around Fraser’s waist – Fraser lifted his own arms around the fellow’s shoulders, and suddenly his feet left the ground and they were both hovering in the air, the world gently spinning around them. Effortless. Fraser reflected that this wild creature would have been able to escape Fraser’s hand-grasp if he’d really wanted to. Effortless and beautiful. Emerald-sheen wings beating strong. Fraser tilted his face, and invited the creature’s kiss – shocked at his own boldness, delighted by the wanton meeting of mouths. Yes, beautiful.

A brief dizziness. Warmth. And Fraser knew somehow that he was else-where. He simply _knew_.

♦

‘This is my place,’ Raimondo said, drifting down through the warm rich air to set the human on his feet. ‘I shouldn’t bring you here, but probably no one will ever know. And if they do find out…’

‘What?’ asked the man.

‘I’ll deal with it.’ Raimondo was looking about him, glad to be back. Forever curious about the quick-place, and all the other worlds, Raimondo nevertheless would be nothing without his home.

To be honest, though, all this gazing about was in order to avoid even glancing at the human. Maybe Benton Fraser wouldn’t appear as beautiful when not contrasted against the dullness of the quick-world.

Raimondo had let the man go once he was standing, but Raimondo was charmed to find a hand slipping trustingly into his again. He let out a sigh, and looked at the human he’d brought home with him. And decided that Benton Fraser was quite lovely after all. Those blue eyes didn’t just match the sky here, they surpassed it. And the man’s sense of wonder and curiosity were infinitely appealing. Already he was beginning to relax, to be truer to himself, his expression softening – the results were, yes, really quite lovely.

‘You wanted to bathe?’ Raimondo asked, fingers drifting to those pesky little button things. ‘Let’s shed the extra layers, hhmmm?’

♦

A feast for all five senses no matter where Fraser turned. As if the elfin creature wasn’t enough to intrigue him, this other-place, this else-where was extraordinary. Fraser recognized, vaguely, the topography of the country he’d left behind – but everything here was richer, warmer, brighter, more bounteous. The river was liquid crystal creating its own music, the barren stretch of rocks had turned to rolling grassy swards, a dust-bowl was now a gem-like pool, the dry stunted trees grew tall and verdant around him. The harsh Fall light was now beneficent Spring, the cool day had turned to the warmth of late afternoon, and Fraser’s lung capacity felt enhanced simply from breathing in the pure air.

When the creature began clumsily trying to work at his shirt buttons, Fraser’s first thought was to experience that potent air against more of his skin. His second was to bathe in that tempting pool, and wash away the dirt and the fear. His third thought related rather directly to the elfin thing, and the idea made the Mountie blush.

For now he aided and abetted those determined fingers. No doubt the creature was nimble when dealing with things familiar to him, but the buttons and straps and buckles and knots of Fraser’s clothes were a source of great impatience.

‘Why do you hide yourself away?’ his new friend asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Fraser said, unable to find any other reply that was honest.

‘There,’ the fellow declared with brisk satisfaction once Fraser was as naked as he. ‘Now, come along with me, human, and bathe.’

They held hands and stepped down into the pool. Fraser sighed his pleasure as the water lapped at him. If nature could make a sapphire flow, then the results would be almost as precious as this. The effect was cleansing and warming and stimulating and relaxing all at once. The two of them lazed for a long hour or more – difficult to judge time in this place where the sunlight was mellow and diffuse. Submerging, Fraser ran fingers over his scalp, letting the water enliven his hair. Following suit, the creature drifted down, sinking deeper in sapphire for far longer than a human might – and then he emerged into the air again in a burst of energy, fluttering his wings to cast jewels of water over Fraser. Laughter found its own harmonies in the other’s humor.

Lying back on the grass while he let the warm air dry him, Fraser looked about at this balmy and inviting version of his own world. The elfin thing lay beside him, sprawled facedown with his wings and his heels lazily playing in the slight breezes.

‘Won’t you tell me your name?’ Fraser whispered. ‘Now that we’ve shared so much else.’

No verbal response – just a sad and faintly reproachful look from that fascinating face.

‘I’m sorry, dearheart. I won’t ask again.’ A little shamed by his own persistence, Fraser found he couldn’t meet those eyes. Instead his gaze wandered down the lithe nut-brown body lying there on the grass, as elegant a version of the human form as Fraser had ever seen or indeed imagined. His own pale sturdiness seemed unattractive next to it, though his new friend seemed to find the human acceptable.

The afternoon slipped lazily on, providing ample opportunity for Fraser to feast his eyes. And then there was still plenty of time for the creature to lean in close and kiss him forever. Intoxicating as wild honeycomb, this elfin mouth. Fraser wondered if he’d ever have enough of it, and thought perhaps not.

Once the creature had begun, the kisses were never-ending. That rich mouth wandered down to kiss away the scrapes and mottled bruises of Fraser’s blind stumbling falls. And then the creature kissed the scar left by Victoria’s final vengeful bullet, still lodged in his back. And at last this lovely thing pressed his face to Fraser’s breastbone, and the else-where warmth slowly seeped inside the man, to steep into his battered heart and begin making it whole.

‘Dearheart,’ Fraser murmured in the most overwhelming gratitude. ‘My own dearheart.’

The afternoon stretched peaceably on. And all the incredible bounty of this other-place was nothing compared to the joyous beauty of making love with an elfin thing.

♦

‘I don’t know which is the most precious of the gifts you’ve given me,’ Fraser said at some stage.

‘Ah, they are all the most precious, you silly creature.’

‘This lassitude,’ Fraser continued undeterred, ‘this beautiful languor.’ For he never would have allowed himself this time to rest and heal, back in his own world of duties and responsibilities.

‘Mmmmm,’ the elfin thing was humming low in his throat, the sound resonating with something pleasurable in the human.

‘Or this energy,’ Fraser concluded, reaching again for his new friend, ‘this wondrous vigor.’

This time – and Fraser had committed himself so far to this else-where and else-when that he had neglected to count occurrences – this time when they made love the pair of creatures spiraled up into the air together, borne aloft by dragon-fly wings. They flew so high that the sky darkened, and Fraser could make out scatterings of stars rich as diamonds. Fraser had never tasted champagne, but the air up there felt like his imaginings of being drunk on crisp clear sparkles.

When they returned to the grass by the river, Fraser was a little disappointed to find that twilight was at last sending in an advance guard of beautiful blue shadows. But the elfin thing kissed him again, and the Mountie lost himself in the spell that his lover cast.

♦

For a human, Benton Fraser was delightfully eager and innocent. Raimondo sang his joy as the man took Raimondo’s sex into his mouth and suckled. Sobbed his joy out in long deepening trills of music, not caring any more if the elders themselves heard. Raimondo’s wings beat hard behind him, threatening to lift them up into the air, so the man wound both strong arms around Raimondo’s waist in an effort to stay with him.

Keening as his final pleasure surged through him, Raimondo felt the grass fall away from his feet – and the pair of them were tumbling down into the pool, the man not letting him go even now. A short-time of kissing and flittering and fondling passed, but Benton Fraser had a wonderfully intent look on his face. ‘I want –’ the man said, voice rough. ‘That is, can it be possible to…?’

Raimondo laughed at all this hungry confusion and noble hesitation.

‘I want to be inside of you.’

‘My man, you take your loving _way_ too seriously.’

But the intensity in those blue eyes was irresistible. Half-crawling out of the water, dragging himself up the grassy bank in mock-fear, Raimondo presented one of his most appealing features to the human – who soon fell across him, tongue-tip teasing Raimondo’s wings and shoulders, his hard sex blindly seeking its own home.

For a human, Benton Fraser was a splendiferously willing and able lover.

♦

‘I really can’t tell you my name,’ the creature declared.

For once this topic had been completely unprovoked by Fraser, so he looked up in surprise. ‘Why not, dearheart?’ he asked after a moment.

‘Don’t you know anything about anything?’

‘Apparently not.’ And Fraser discovered that he didn’t even mind.

‘If I told you my name, my true-name, and you called it three times, then I’d have to come to you, and don’t you see I can’t give that power over to anyone, not even you.’

‘Oh yes, I do see.’

‘Do you?’ The barest hint of desperation, which puzzled Fraser.

‘Of course, and thank you kindly for explaining it to me. I respect that you need to be free to be who you are, at the beck and call of no one. I respect that, dearest. If you want the truth, I even envy you for it, just a little.’

‘Envy…’ the creature mused. He cocked a mischievous smile at the human. ‘Benton Fraser,’ he said very deliberately. ‘Benton Fraser.’ His smile grew into a grin, as the Mountie echoed the expression. ‘Benton Fraser.’

And the man willingly went into his arms. The twilight lingered around them.

#

A long-time eased past as Raimondo contemplated his lover. The truth of the man’s heart and his soul were abundantly clear in Benton Fraser’s face – the best of the man was _right here_ instead of being locked away inside him, it was _right now_ rather than left behind in the past or saved for the future. So very beautiful, this human, while letting himself just _be_. So very very beautiful.

‘What if I love you?’ Raimondo murmured. ‘What then, if I love you?’

He didn’t realize he’d spoken loud enough for Benton Fraser to hear until the man replied, ‘You do love me, dearheart, and it is nothing to fear.’

♦

Eventually Fraser realized that the evening would segue easily into a long magical night, and he would be else-where forever if he didn’t make the effort to break free. He wanted so much to see what this other-place would be like in velvet darkness, and then what colors the far-away dawn would bring with it, but he couldn’t neglect the demands of duty.

‘But where do you go?’ the elfin creature mournfully asked.

‘A city in the United States of America called Chicago. It is a very long way from here.’

‘Chi-ca-go,’ his friend said, trying out the strange syllables. ‘Is that where you belong?’

‘No. But I belong more in that world than in this.’

‘Do they have trees there in Chicago?’

‘Very few, dearheart. Too few.’

The creature pouted, managing somehow to look even more adorable. He propped himself on Fraser’s chest, tried to block out everything else with his wings. ‘Well, then, when does your duty end?’

‘I don’t know.’ And the Mountie found he felt as infinitely sad as his new friend appeared to be. ‘I don’t know. I’m used to thinking that it will never end.’ But this creature wasn’t going to understand that – the elfin thing was not and should never be serious. ‘How long will you remember me?’ Fraser whispered.

‘Long enough. Maybe forever.’

‘I’ll remember you forever, too.’

A sigh, delicate and sweet and terrible in its grief. ‘Make love with me again, Benton Fraser. Create love with me one last time, you horrid man.’

Fraser closed his eyes. ‘No.’

‘No? Why not? You miserable thing you.’

‘Because maybe then I wouldn’t be strong enough to leave.’

A long sullen silence. ‘I’ll let you leave,’ the elfin thing said morosely. ‘That’s what you want, isn’t it? I won’t bedazzle you into staying, I’ll make sure you get what you want, not what you deserve.’

Fraser looked at him, gazed for an hour or more into those remarkable green-hazel eyes. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered with all his sincerity. ‘You are the best of friends to me.’

‘I hate you, you horrid thing you.’

‘No, you don’t,’ Fraser whispered gently. And the passion of their love-making was tinged with regret, which somehow only made it all the sweeter.

♦

The twilight was rich muted restful purples. Fraser lay in the middle of it with his lover who managed to be both ethereal and oh-so-worldly. ‘I never knew how badly I’d been hurt until you healed me,’ Fraser murmured.

‘I’ve healed you,’ the elfin thing echoed regretfully, ‘body and mind, heart and soul. Now you have the strength to go back to fight with your duty again. Every-when you say _duty_ your beautiful blue eyes go dull.’

‘Fight _for_ my duty,’ Fraser absently corrected. ‘I was thinking, dearheart.’

‘Oh, we don’t do that much around here.’

Fraser chuckled, knowing that the creature he held in his arms had the most supernal – or infernal – intelligence the Mountie had ever encountered. ‘I was thinking that duty will never end. But there will come a day when I’ll no longer be able to fulfil my responsibilities. There will come a time when I am too old to meet duty’s demands, when I will do more harm than good if I try. There will surely be a time when I’ve done enough.’

‘But will you stop?’

‘Ah. Do you know me so well?’

‘Yes, human, but I don’t understand.’

‘You must know that I have my pride. Perhaps in time I will be ready to retire with some grace and dignity, rather than stay beyond my prime and make a complete fool of myself.’ Fraser lay there thinking of his father and Buck Frobisher and Gerard, of desk jobs and harmless postings, of an old man’s loneliness when all his friends were dead or changed beyond recognition. ‘Could I come find you,’ Fraser asked his dearest friend, ‘in twenty or thirty years from now? Will you still be here?’

‘Maybe.’

‘Will you still want me, do you think?’

‘Maybe.’ A vivid grimace. ‘Human, you ask a lot of a being.’

‘Because after a lifetime of service, after all that doing, perhaps I’ll have earned the indulgence of simply being for a while.’

The elfin creature blessed him with a lop-sided smile. ‘That’s the most sensible thing I’ve ever heard you say, Benton Fraser.’

‘Good.’ He lifted his head in order to kiss his lover. ‘You are a happy creature, dearheart. I think it’s a gift, being able to be that happy. I’ll try to learn it on my own, but when I come to find you, if I’ve failed, perhaps you can teach me.’

‘Maybe,’ his lover said. But those woodland eyes conveyed a firmer promise.

♦

Fraser looked about him. He was certainly back in his own world – the confusing thing was that he could have sworn it was now Winter, though his plane had crashed in Fall. Still, how else could he interpret the patches of early snow in the deepest shadows, the cold bite to the air, and the bare branches of the deciduous trees?

Locating his pack and the raft where he had abandoned them, Fraser was pleased to discover it all still intact, which was unreasonably lucky. While checking over the gear, Diefenbaker ran up to him. The wolf’s growl was both welcoming and a tad suspicious, and he seemed leaner and wilder and happier than he’d been under Chicago’s influence.

After a few minutes, Dief suffered the Mountie to pat and stroke him, to re-establish their bond. ‘I missed you, old friend,’ Fraser said. ‘I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long. It seemed like I spent a late afternoon and early evening there – but I find I’ve lost six weeks or more. It was good of you to wait here for so long.’

The wolf looked up at him with a measure of understanding in those light eyes.

‘Well, yes, it was quite the tryst. Still, duty calls. Do you realize that people will assume we are dead?’ And, with a last scratch behind the wolf’s ears, Fraser turned away to begin doing all the things that he was required to.

♦

Raimondo hovered amongst the tree-tops of the quick-world, hiding himself from the human’s sight. He watched as Benton Fraser inspected the tumble of rocks that had stopped the other man forever. The human added a few more rocks, ensuring that what remained of the nasty thing was completely covered up, and then he built a little cairn on top. A moment’s quiet was observed with bent head.

And then, almost out of nothing, Benton Fraser created a bright yellow contraption that floated on the water of the river. He and the wolf climbed into it, and the man pushed them away from the shore and into the current.

At last the human cast a regretful glance back at this place, and apparently caught sight of his lover. Perhaps Raimondo had been betrayed by the sunlight catching glints from his wingtip. The man half-turned in his seat, disregarding the challenges of the river. Perhaps he wanted to call out a farewell, but he remained silent.

Raimondo flitted closer, and hovered over the contraption as it rocked on the river’s flow. ‘Raimondo,’ he cried to his love, being brave and stupid all at once. ‘My name is Raimondo!’

Hearing and understanding this, Benton Fraser nodded once in a gratitude so solemn it was hilarious.

Laughing in delight, Raimondo spun about and went home. The human would be back. He was too clever and too sensual, too proud and too curious not to eventually leave the quick-dull-world behind him. And then Benton Fraser would finally learn some vitally important things…

♦

_Raimondo_ , Fraser silently chanted. _Raimondo_. He felt the precious shape of the name in his mouth. _Raimondo_.

The elf creature had disappeared in a flash that took all the day’s brightness with him. Disappeared in the twinkle of an eye, in the teardrops forming at the edge of Fraser’s eyelids, in the grief that would not be permitted to spill over. That wonderful creature had given Fraser the power to call on him at any time the Mountie wanted, and that would present a terrible temptation in all the months and years and decades to come.

But Mounties and wolves didn’t belong in Chicago, let alone… beautiful things with dragon-fly wings.

Fraser let out a saddened sigh, though he was all too aware he was wearing a small and very genuine smile. And he began paddling back to civilization.

♦


End file.
